(Dale Lezon & Mike Glenn/Houston Chronicle)
How long 18-month-old Evan Montgomery Miller sat in the backseat of the Jeep Cherokee, cold and alone, in close to 30-degree temperature, is unclear. Police estimate it could have anytime after the vehicle was stolen Thursday evening and the toddler found Friday morning – up to about a 14-hour stretch.
Hidden by large trees in an alley behind a southwest Houston strip center, the Jeep was not even visible to up to 40 patrol units looking for it and the boy, police said.
But when Terron Henry came out back to the alley for a cigarette around 8 a.m. Friday, he happened to notice the Jeep in the narrow lane. He also found it strange.
“Usually don’t see a car pulled up in a walkway like that,” said Henry, 38, who owns Cool Runnings, a Jamaican restaurant in the strip center. He walked about 50 feet down the alley to the vehicle, which was frosted over -most likely due to near freezing weather overnight. His instincts were to look inside.
Peering into the back passenger window, Henry saw the small boy strapped into a car seat, motionless, his eyes closed. “I thought to myself, ‘Oh God, let this child be alive,’ ” Henry said. (Read the fully story at Houston Chronicle)
OTHER HEADLINES:
- Meningitis Vaccine: Good Intentions With Serious Consequences (KHOU-11 News)
- UTMB Defends Charity Policies (Galveston Daily News)
- Texas Colleges Aim to Get in Sync With Labor Market (Texas Tribune)
- Houston Endowment Grants Harris County $2M for After-School Initiatives. (Cypress Times)
- U.S. Seeks Rollback of a Health Insurer’s ‘Excessive’ Rate Increase (New York Times)
OPINIONS OF NOTE:
- The Language of Prevention (Texas Observer)
- Can Wal-Mart Push Both Sustainability and Consumption? (New York Times)